There is no doubt that even under the Spanish regime we already knew
of the existence in the Philippines of criminals condemned to death
and imprisonment for murder, theft, rape, sacrilege, and all kinds
of crimes, and that the corruption of customs was neither unknown
nor rare. Since under the entire period of Spanish domination,
instruction was under the exclusive care of the friars of the Roman
Church, if we utilize the same procedure of the above-mentioned
prelate, we could also accuse all the priests of having instructed
the Filipinos, thru their education, in murder and in theft, and that
the corruption of customs was "all the seasoned fruit of the Catholic
schools." I do not propose such an accusation; I only content myself
with presenting it as a logical consequence which could be deduced
following the method used by the prelate in speaking to no less than
his priests in a circular designed to orient the mentality of his
clergy and of his parishioners. Pondering over the accusation of the
Bishop, it occurred to me that it would be beneficial to recall the
public instruction that was formerly given in the Philippines by the
"godly schools" and consider the results obtained. Confident in the
respectable character, and, to many, the sacred character of the
priests, I must resort to their testimony to know what that education
was and what results it gave to the Filipino people.
We should not conceal the truth when the truth portrays things that
may not be pleasing to us. None like those who are dedicated to
instruction have such an interest in knowing the mentality of the
society in which they live and which it is their duty to educate. An
exact knowledge of the moral, intellectual, and physical defects
of a people is the most important factor to orient its education,
and it would be absurd to close one's eyes to what is bad, because
the principle of correcting a certain thing is to know if it is a
mistake or not. One cannot correct an evil of which he is ignorant.